HMV – Another Wake Up Call

So now the internet has killed off high street giant HMV. Another high profile scalp for the relentlessly ruthless internet!

The casualties are piling up – HMV, Woolworths, JJB Sports, Comet, Blockbuster and Jessops to name a few. The victims blame the internet when they should be looking at what went wrong and why.

Evolution

Okay, the worst global recession since the 1930s hasn’t helped the situation but why didn’t they react to the seismic change that was happening all around them? Why didn’t they do more to embrace the internet and the new business models and consumer behaviour it created? Why didn’t they wake up and smell the coffee? Maybe it is because evolution has its casualties – like the Dodo and the Dinosaur…

Look & Learn

Film and television production companies and broadcasters need to look at what happened on the high street and adapt accordingly before it is too late. Evolution is merciless. But it’s not only about finding and using new business models, it’s about conceiving story content that satisfies and commercially exploits new viewer habits and behaviour, such as a strong desire to become more engaged with a story beyond the boundaries of traditional linear structure. In this industry the evolution of story is as important as the evolution of business models.

Don’t Be A Dodo!

Let’s hope the high profile corpses that litter the high street act as yet another wake up call to the traditional media industry to get with the programme and pull its collective head out of the golden sands of times gone by.